Whether or not you were rooting for a Phillip Phillips victory, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate when the confetti began to fall at the end of American Idol‘s eleventh season.

On this week’s two-part episode of Idology, Season 6 standout Melinda Doolittle and I discuss why the latest chapter in Idol history turned out to be so stellar, offer an in-depth analysis of when exactly Phillip sewed up the win, and examine how the Idol Machine played a part in thwarting Jessica Sanchez’s attempts to become Idol‘s first female winner since Jordin Sparks.

Plus, we try to make sense of Phillip’s occasionally “atonal” style, recap Jennifer Lopez’s most annoying critique in 2012, rail against the inappropriate lyrics of Jessica’s debut single, and relive the highs and lows of the Season 11 finale: The catsuits! The sloth! The decreased focus on idiots! The phone-book song! And the moment Jennifer Holliday tried to devour Jessica Sanchez’s face!

And finally, Melinda and I offer two concrete ways Uncle Nigel can ensure Season 12 is even better than the one that came before it. Spoiler alert: One way might obliterate Ryan Seacrest’s ability to trumpet “world record” voting tallies. (Oh well!)

So press play below for a two-part Idology finale filled with crazy pop-culture clips (hi, Sherlock!), a little bit of salty language, and a possible threat to the planet’s most vulnerable children.

And do sign up to follow me on Twitter, since that’ll be the first place to find out exactly when I post my upcoming Idology exit interviews with the Season 11 Top 5, not to mention plenty of off-season Idol goodness!

i don’t think people would abandon the show so easily if it’s as good as this year. just think- if instead of P2 we had someone completely different… all bets would be off then (or maybe Colton would have just taken the whole thing).

LOL, ugh, no. I much prefer P2 to Colton. He was probably my rock bottom of the whole top13. I do agree, though, that they should run in the other direction if a cute acoustic kid from the South walks in and offers up his rearranged stylings, lol. Just for one season, and see what happens!

:) yes, they should try everything once (like good judges)! let’s cross our fingers that it happens next year (but it won’t).
between P2 and Colton i also prefer P2. but no way is Colton worse than Shannon. besides, even though i wasn’t impressed with his voice, and the whole Jesus thing bugged me a lot- i liked Colton, for the same reason Slezak did- he was a smart contestant. he was also very likable and charming (especially in his idology interview).

How can you not cast someone who is worthy of being cast? So, anyone can be cast—except for the white guy with a guitar? Wow, now that WOULD be racist—and I’ve not been part of the whole racist scheme all season. Personally, i don’t think the whole WGWG is a curse, I’ve gotten some of the best music from these guys and I’m happy as all heck!

we can’t take responsibility for every actual crazy person on the message boards… let us have our fun!
in any case, i don’t think it would actually be racist to avoid having an alt-rock-acoustic-guitar-playing guy, now would it? unless we’re considering music genres as races now.

in the top 24? there were way more! you must mean top 13, no? and in that case there were 3 (Jeremy). and casting P2 is NOT the way to break the curse… i’m still shocked that Jessica didn’t win. she was far from my favorite, but her youtube watch counts alone made me think she’s on her way to being a superstar.

Any idiot knows that the voting for this show is wrong, no person should be able to vote a zillion times, still the show loves to say “hey all time record votes”. Any AL contestant that made it big, had the “it” factor, Hudson had “it:, Hicks didn’t. Very few contestants on this show or any other shows like AL, can say they made it big. As a matter of fact some of the biggest names in music, never were on shows like AI. It’s all about the “it” factor and having amazing people behind you, being at the right place at the right time, and being one lucky SOB. Plain and simple…. Shows like AL, give music divas jobs as judges, keep networks from paying for scripted shows, and actually making the public think they are making the next new super star.

I know that people reference the records as a reason but I heard someone mention TnT as a possible reason. Presumbly unlimited voting gets them a lot of money, so maybe Fox doesn’t want to lose that sponsership.
Regardless, they NEED to change the voting or I’m just going to be watching idology for interesting contestants. Its not worth the emotional investment.

Michael & Melinda, thanks for being great company to AI. I look forward to next year’s Idology (or whatever version you come up with next). That’s the only way I’d be able to keep up with AI news. Unless they change the judges, especially JLo, I’m skipping next season.

Thank you Michael and Melinda—for NOT getting caught up in the WGWG crap. Thank you for a great season of commentary and judging FAIRLY. thank you for not being part of the hate that permeated this and many other message boards (of course, you weren’t! You both are so much better than that!) Thank you Jason for YOUR great commentaries through the characters we love. I hope the “haters” will stop watching AI and will stay away from these boards next year. God forbid another whole-package talented guy audition next year—he won’t even have a chance to prove himself with some of the people here–they will just hate him because he’s white and he has a guitar—-and that’s a sad commentary.
BUT, at least fans can go to Michael and Melinda for reasoning and fairness!

do you think there are actually people out there who don’t hate him because he is white with a guitar? or don’t hate him at all? i don’t hate pp, i just don’t think he was the best, nor do i think he had the whole package. not hate. just my opinion.

………and you are entitled to your opinion as long as you respect the opinions of others. Listen not all of us are going to like the same thing that’s for sure. Most of the popular music today I could not even stand listening to but hey someone must because they would not be on top if nobody bought their albums. I liked most of the top 10 this year and I play all their music. Some I like better than others but I don’t hate any of them. I just happen to like Phillip’s music the best.

did i say anything disrespectful to anyone about having another opinion? i certainly don’t think everybody will like the same thing.
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what bothers me even more are some people who complain about pp-haters then turn around and rip somebody to shreds when they have a differing opinion. and from what i can tell, many (not all) are grown adults. eesh!

tewence, I apologize, I was not saying you did. It is just that this board gets so nasty and I don’t mean even just Phillip haters, I mean Jessica haters as well. Its like the only way to raise their favorite up is by cutting the competitor down. That is so totally mean. All these kids worked hard and did a wonderful job. It is a competition and someone has to win but I wish they all could because they all deserve it. The funny thing is they are all okay with it all it is people on these blogs that get so hateful and crazy with each other while those kids all turned out to be fun loving friends with each other. I’ve said it before we can all learn something from them.

I know I’ve read some of the other boards and I can’t believe how nasty people can be but then it is the internet and they are anonymous and I think they enjoy taking out their frustrations and not having to answer for it in real life.

Agree! They have the right formula. I thought the show would tank without Simon, but it’s still the best of the bunch. ‘The Voice’ bores me, and – although I was expecting to LOVE ‘The XFactor’ due to Paula and Simon – I hated it. Watched the first 2 shows, then ditched it. Just didn’t grab me. For me, Idol has a certain magic that the other shows have not managed to replicate. Too bad it’s on the decline … but I’ll enjoy it until it completely jumps the shark. :)

I totally agree. Having the Voice on the time of the year as Idol really showed me how much more I love Idol. Its funny because I really do not like the judges at all but I love the kids. You kind of get attached to them and feel invested in them. The Voice’s structure does not allow you the opportunity to really know the contestants. I purchased every album of idol since top 13 and none of the voice’s music. Just did not grab me. The xfactor was better than the voice but it became too much with the judges bantering and there was just too much production but I really did like my favorite Josh Krajcik and I am still following his career and waiting for his album to come out. I don’t know what the xfactor is going to be like this year with Britney Spears and Demi Lavato. I just can’t see it but who knows maybe we will be pleasantly surprised. I am trying to keep an open mind.

In the 2 shows that I saw, Josh Krajcik was my pick, too! Allso liked that Lady gaga clone. By chance, I was flipping channels the night of XF finale, and got to see Josh lose. Glad he made it all the way to the finale! Wonder if he ever tried out for Idol before he surpassed the cut-off age.

Yeah, the secret of Idol is how they get us attached to the contestants. That’s part of the reason I used to like the Top 24 semi-finals, when they sang on “the smaller stage” – remember that? We had 3 extra weeks to get to know them and vote before top 12 finals. Ryan Seacrest is also a major factor in Idol’s success. He’s a master at what he does.

I remember also when Idol was on three nights one night girls, one night boys and then results night until the top 12 were picked. I agree with you about Seacrest too. I think it would hurt Idol bad if he left. I also don’t think it is because of who won that Idol is going down in ratings. I think it is the judges that is hurting the show. Don’t forget Simon was still around season 9 so 3 of the so called WGWG was winners then. I think the problem is more that judges lack of judging that is the problem. BTW if you go on the idol site you can take a survey and you can grade the judges if you want to. I think giving them some feedback helps them to fix the problems. I totally agree also that the voting has to change. It is ridiculous if you really want someone to win you feel like you have to power vote for the person because you know other contestants are being power voted for. I still don’t believe there was 132,000,000 million legitimate votes either. I think they counted the illegal votes from the Philippines before they eliminated them just so they can brag about the amount. Plus everyone is saying Jessica’s line was always busy but I had no problem getting through for Phillip. It even worried me. I also don’t believe the save was faked but I do believe anyone would have been saved that night because of the slip Steven made. We are gong to use the save regardless. I do think they create drama to make it interesting but I really don’t think it would be to make it look like someone was voted off that wasn’t especially because that kind of thing happens every year. We always have a surprise elimination In all the years watching I don’t remember anytime there wasn’t.

You know PP by virtue of timing and luck was able to peak the fnal two weeks and he won the darn thing … what really is bugging me is that Jessica was basically failed by the Idol production the final two weeks … 4 of the final six songs were not her choice … to see the grown “men” all put it totally on her, especially her coronation song by saying she picked it …. yes that was for you Jimmy and Nigel … is rats jumping the ship … I would love to her Jimmy say hey I gave her Jackson 5″ ABC” to sing … I mean “I’llbe there” .. and “change nothing” and its on me that she lost … instead they let her take the blame .. way to be real men …

You know, I don’t believe that at all—if she was going to win, she would have won no matter what she sang—and the Jackson 5 number was good—it wasn’t her best but it wasn’t so bad that her fans would have not voted or switched to Phillip. If her fans are so fussy that they would not vote for her because of one song—then she didn’t have very loyal fans.

A lot of people quit voting for Jessica the last 2 weeks because they were so fed up with the Filipino posters on Idol sites. These JSan fans were rude, vulgar, insulting and threatening, totally dismissed her Mexican/American roots and only her Asian blood mattered. None of this was her fault, but it did cost her a lot of support.

Don’t be fooled. I remember Templar’s first posts about Jessica on this site. He was the first to call her all sorts of names. He made up so many things that were proven untrue or just mere speculation. Every week. Then he comes on here and starts in on “Filipino” fans as if they are all the same. I asked a friend who could read what the Filipinos were writing and they said more than half were wondering who was posting such stuff, and others were saying good things about everyone. I suppose if you can’t read what they are saying you end up stating ignorant things like Templar just did. But Templar said vile stuff way before then. Just look it up. He found a sixteen year old who was quite introverted but had immense ability a threat to his favorite so dedicated the whole season just nitpicking and coming up with imagined variables.

Apparently you didn’t spend much time on AINet. There were wars on that site because of all the pro JS anti everyone else posts. Tons of “Comment Deleted” instances. I’m not referring to the foreign language posts, but the ones in english. And, if you go there now and review the weeks of comments, you will learn the truth of what I posted here.

So this your way of bringing the garbage from another site into this one? Obviously if you check back on the posts on THIS site there are only one or two who are trolling for Jessica and especially early on, there was NO ONE doing such things. Most were like myself who only presented another side of her argument and did not attack any of the other contestants. There was no reason to. However, we can all see the familiar names of those commenters who brought the early unsubstantiated Jessica descriptions on here. Stating them as if they were fact. I’m glad she is getting a a chance to speak more freely without being edited so much by Idol. Just check “Jessica Sanchez’s AI Alter-Ego BeBe Chez – Unofficial Idol Forum” with Constantine Maroulis on youtube. Jessica talks about a lot of things people twisted and changed to suit their agenda. Even how the finale song choice was pretty much handed to her. Lastly, always bringing in the worst of fanatics which are a mere handful for any contestant is not exactly truthful, honest or fair. But why start now?

Her fans remained loyal, but she really didnt pick up any momentum the last 2 weeks … where did all the Joshua and Hollie voters go? … they ended up going for Phillip becuase he was performing better … they didnt give her a chance to breakout beyond her group with poor song choices … 4 of the final six were out of her hands … If you read any review, and I mean all of them, the they agree that she just kind flattened … my point is that she was handled poorley with the choices by Simon, Jimmy and the judges .. instead of somebody standing up and saying “we kind of blew it for her” (and she get some of the blame too) … they all just say “she picked that song” ..

Phillip also did not choose his own songs, especially in the Top 3. I had the impression that they were trying to sink the P2 and Jessica, to be sure of leaving Joshua in the finale. Philip just happened to be ready for this – he’s older and he knew that not everyone will love it to this show (that’s for the Elise this ratio was a shock each time), but Jess has brought a lack of experience.

I loved the suggestions too, particularly the “clearing more songs” suggestion. It baffles me that the producers don’t get a bigger list. From the audience’s standpoint, seeing the contestants sing the same song year after year gets boring (and why are the most common songs always the most boring ones– the stuck-in-its-own-time “Superstition,” the never-ending “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and that dreadful “Against All Odds”?). From the producer’s standpoint, it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the talent level to watch Jessica Sanchez sing “I Have Nothing” when you remember versions by Trenyce, Jennifer Hudson, Vonzell Solomon, Katharine McPhee, and LaKisha Jones, several of which were better. Surely ratings suffer when Idol seems like the same old thing year in and year out, so let’s try and leave as little room for cross-season comparison as we can, mkay?

Ha- let’s not go too far with my logic. I preferred Lauren Alaina, who also sang a lot of “First Time on Idol” songs starting in the Top 6 (which is when I really started liking her, behind Haley of course).

Well, for me Season 8 was the best ’cause there was so many people that I actually love. But in terms of prodution I agree with you, Season 11 was the best. The only thing is that Jessica should have won.

Thank you Michael and Melinda for such wonderful “Idology” videos, and thank you Jason Averett for the very clever editing. Good job on the nods to “Jane Eyre” and “the Thin Man”.
On some level Season 7 will always be my favorite because of David Cook, since he’s from my area, but the talent this season was amazing. And I don’t think we ever heard “Against All Odds”, did we?
I agree with everything – clear more songs, limit the voting, and I would suggest bringing back former Idols as mentors more often.

Season 7 was my favorite too–but this season is right there with 7 now. People complain about the judges—but these judges have picked the best people—the best top 24’s, the best top 10’s—no Sanjaya’s to have to suffer through, everyone was terrific. Yes, good people got left behind, but I think when you are dealing with the top 24 down to the top 13 it’s about who performed the best at that moment. I think the possibilities for the top 10 individuals are greater than for the top 10’s of Simon’s time (he always had some duds in there and too many ballad singers). Now, if Jennifer does decides to leave, I hope that doesn’t break their “winning” streak on picking great people!

You 2 are perfect! Even tho I don’t always agree :) Like, I love Phillip! And that Jennifer/Jessica duet? Are you freaking kidding me? That was the most ridiculous, scarry-a** piece of unintendy comedy I have seen! I walked away from it the first time but my kid made me watch it on dvr the next day. The facial expressions had us rofl – we kept playing Jennifer’s first few notes doing her “Cowardly Lion” face, not to mention all the other ones. Charichature artists could not have even drawn stuff as insane as that! And that growly screamy crap while Jennifer tried to actually sing the song? I think she was actually crying at the end because she just wanted Jennifer to stop already!!!!

In Ms. Holiday’s defense. She’s a theater woman and a Tony-award winner. She made her name on Broadway. For her to connect to her audience, she has to translate her emotions to the 500th person sitting in the back of the theater. Obviously she spent years doing that, and doing it well. I think that’s why she appeared a bit over-the-top by t.v. standards. She’s a Broadway girl.

Jennifer H. was wonderful, but if you check on her actual Broadway days; her performance had more subtle acting involved, more movement and interaction with the other character she is actually singing to. So by making this a “face the audience” kind of song it changed her interpretation as well. I do find it amusing that some people criticize the emotion and her anger, screams etc. The whole scene in which this song was sung involved the character pleading, crying, screaming and also anger. Jessica’s interpretation had all that, but her rendition fit her body size and scale. On stage the original character was large, physically bigger than life. Which is why Jennifer’ Holliday’s more current performances make up for the new size difference. She’s lost a lot of weight since, so now she creates a more exaggerated persona. Jessica goes for a more vulnerable presentation because she knows she can only do the screaming part at the very end to make it work for her. Loved both performance though and the highlight of the season for me. If they did not do this on the finale, the season would have ended so sour for Jessica fans.

I agree with you Slezak J.lo is one stupid skank her critiques are useless and she gets paid $15 million for that. Remove her already she annoys me and she judge base on who she would like to be her next boytoy ugh disgusting. Anyway congrats to Jessica for giving me someone to root for I haven’t watch Idol since season 9 but Jessica pulled me in with her beautiful voice I’ll be waiting for her album to come out :)

I could not agree more! Hate J-HO, love Jessica. I was rootin for Hollie the whole way thru and like u said, Jessica pulled me in only with her pure talent. I’ve never rooted for someone like that before on Idol, I tend to pick someone at the beginning then pick whoever I like at the end after my favorite is gone based on biases …. this year Jessica seriously won me over with that amazing voice of hers.

Granted I’ve only watched since season seven but for me its far and away the worst and its not even close. I can’t imagine myself listening to anything by any of them in the future unless Elise puts out a hard rock album but I don’t expect that to happen. This season was even worse than last years despite last years boring country tween finale.

Thank you so much Michael and Melinda for your delightful and smart recaps throughout the season. I wish you would continue your dialog on other shows throughout the year. And thank you Michael for being so sweet and kind to Jessica who was treated bizarrely the last two weeks of the show so she was no longer allowed to sing joyful songs like How Do I Know and Sweet Dreams which are much more suited to her personality. I think you’re right that Phillip saved himself with three decent performances the last weeks but what about the multiple bad ones we had to sit through. Even Phillip admitted that Jessica stole the show finale night with her duet with Jennifer Holliday..

All we can hope is that Jessica finds a connection with a smart songwriter who can work well with her obvious talent. You could hear her lovely voice when she sang the duet with Phillip on the finale, Up Where We Belong and she did not sound like anyone else but herself. I wish they had recorded that duet.

Did anyone hear Jessica sing God Bless America over the weekend? She even made that song sound amazing and it was just a dress rehearsal!

I think Idol is on a huge upswing after the disasterous bottom dwelling season that was season 9. Season 11 is up there in my top 5 I think, maybe at number 5. But I have a STRONG feeling that season 12 will be the best season ever and the winner will be someone really amazing. (not that Phil isn’t amazing, I love him.)

Before season 9, I read that every 3rd season of Idol is never among the best. Season 3 when Fantasia won, season 6 when Jordan won, season 9 when Lee won. I must say that when people talk about the ‘best’ seasons no one ever seems to name 3, 6, or 9.

Season nine was not the producers fault though, it was the audiences fault. Had the voters not voted out all the best contestants int the first few weeks. Katelynn Epperly , Lily Scott, Did Benami, and Alex Lambert all should have been in the top 5 with Crystal and it would have been a spectacular season. Instead we got such “greats” as Tim Urban, Paige Myles, katy Stevens, Mychael Lynche, all way outlasting their time (I will never forgive Simon for saying Paige Miles has more potential than Katelynn Epperly.

I think this was the best season since Season 7 certainly because the contestants were the most evenly matched. I don’t think it has a thing to do with the show or production stepping up in any category. The themes certainly were still bland and unoriginal, the song list were repetitive, and the judges still played it like everyone deserved a gold star.

Just wanted to drop another line of thanks to Jason for including three (!) more Mass Effect clips in the season finale episode of Idology (EPIC), alongside Sherlock. Love how aptly they’re placed! Makes me wish there was an Idology version for mainstream gaming, haha. <3 Thanks for a great (and much-anticipated longer) episode of Idology, you guys!

In all honesty the ONLY contestant that was ready to hit the road running was Skylar!! She will outsell ALL of the others two times over. Casual voters were rooting for Phillip. If I talked to people about Idol they would mention Phillip because he got a lot of exposure. And I live in Mississippi. They didn’t even have any idea a girl from Mississippi was on the show. Strange huh? They obviously weren’t watching but were listening to what others were saying. That is how mediocre singers keep winning this show. You have people tuning in for a few songs, deciding they like this person then going on to do other stuff but voting anyway for the one that others told them was great. Most these people couldn’t even name 3 contestants. But all named Phillip. They won’t follow his music or buy his stuff so he won’t make it!

On a side note! If you haven’t checked it out yet, check out Kris Allen’s new cd. It is amazing and surprising at the same time. I love every track and that hasn’t happened to me in a long time. Usually there is at least one song I fast forward through but I LOVE them all on his new album. That is one man that deserved his spot and I don’t compare him to the mediocre singers that just get by.

Thank you so much for sharing this. I was really wondering where he stood against the other idols coronation songs. I just wonder why they are not playing it on the radio. I’ve had the radio on all day and have not heard it once.

This should, hopefully shut up Jessica’s so called blow hard fans: Phillips’ Journey to the Finale digital compilation, which features 11 songs he performed during the Idol season, sold 24,000 copies and ranked No. 11 on the Billboard album chart. This is ON TOP of all of the singles sold…

A similar collection from runner-up Jessica Sanchez sold just 4,000 copies (No. 126). 4,000 LOUSY COPIES. And they weren’t even buying her singles, either, so the old sayings are; put your money where your mouth is; put up or shut up.

I think Phillip’s fans proved to be legitimate and all of those people on these blogs trying to strong arm others to vote for anyone OTHER than Phillip because he was just “another white guy with a guitar” proved that THEY were the ones who were prejudiced because THEY were the ones who really weren’t supporting a singer because they truly liked a singer for their music enough to actually purchase it, just that they DIDN’T want Phillip to win.

But Phillip’s fans actually enjoyed his music, as evident by the large numbers of his sales, which also, obviously translated to his large number of votes throughout the competition.

I wish it would silence some of Jessica’s angry fans but it is not. Some of the comments on these stories of Phillips success are even more nastier than they were before. They have to discount any success he has and use excuses why Jessica was not successful on itunes. Instead of opening their mouths the way they are and tearing Phillip apart why aren’t they supporting her the best way they can and that is by buying her music. It is really sad that her showing on itunes has been so poor. I think it is one of the worse showings a runner up has had I purchased all the music since top 13. So I am a Phillip’s fan but I supported Jessica better than some of her so called followers. It really is sad.

Same here, I’ve supported all the contestants, having bought every album since the top 13. And I actually listen to them all, too, so those who say “put your money where your mouth is” my money has supported both Jessica and Phillip—how about yours?

Sore “winner”? I haven’t won anything, deedee, Phillip did. All I’m doing is responding the continual whining and insults of Jessica’s so called “fans” and media who think she “deserved” to win instead of Phillip, ESPECIALLY, to many of them, because he was just another “white guy with a guitar”. I think Phillip’s sales have proven that his “fans” have actually “bought into” his music and enjoy it, and THAT’S why they voted for him. OBVIOUSLY, based on the numbers now clearly made public for the world to see, Jessica’s so called “fans” bought into the “hype” and were only interested in to pushing an agenda.

There’s no spin to it; this was American Idol, and the millions of weekly American viewers had the opportunity to not only vote for their favorite singers but to purchase their music. Phillip’s fans voted for him AND bought his music, in RECORD numbers. Jessica’s so called fans brow beat everybody trying to get her to win Idol, helping her making it to the finale, yet bought virtually NONE of her music along the way. THAT speaks volumes.

Now maybe Jessica will go on and have a great career; I really hope she does, but for her to do so, her fans will have to do more that talk the talk; they’ll have to walk the walk – get off their wallets and spend some cash or she’ll wish she went to college instead of tried out for Idol because her career in the music industry will be very short lived. If Jessica can’t even sell any music when she has such a HUGE stage and following (National and International following), I’m not sure what will change once she’s been out of the public eye for several months to a year. What incentive would he fans have to buy her music then that they didn’t have during her run on Idol when she was on the big stage week in and week out? New music? Not if it’s anything like the song she chose if she would have won Idol…

On the other hand, Phillip’s fans bought virtually everything he put out on Idol, which is a great sign for when he puts out his first album. The other good thing going for Phillip is that he already has over 100 original songs written so it shouldn’t take too long to get his first album out there as compared to others (permitted his other obligations don’t get in the way). This means Phillip can keep up his momentum with his music.

Wow Deedee, that was kinda harsh! Jessica’s fans have been throwing crap in Phillip’s fans faces, well, since we got down to the final 4—I don’t think there is anything wrong with proving that people voted for Phillip for his music—and showing his sales stats is the only way to do it since the people here seem to think that he’s only liked for his looks. I never thought I’d see YOU speak to people like that Deedee. Wow.

givemeglenn, you won. Be gracious, and let the Jessica fans lick their wounds instead of saying things like “she only sold 4,000 lousy copies”. Not necessary. Competition is over. Now it’s every man for himself because the real world is certainly not American Idol.

Marsaili, I’ve seen you get majorly pissed at people who rub you the wrong way, but you’re right – I don’t usually lose my cool like that. That post directed at Jessica fans was simply too much for me at that moment (when I read it), considering it was a “winner” chiding the “loser”. :-/

i have to say, i support american idol contestants by buying their music AFTER the show is over. i have actually never bought any tracks from the season, but have MANY of the contestant’s post-idol albums. about to buy elliot yamin’s latest one which sounded BOMB when i previewed it.

To be honest, I’ve been reading comments on this blog for 2 seasons now and not so much posting and can really say that as finale approaches, more and more posts have become very annoying to read. Please next year keep it civil and stop re-saying what’s been said here 1000 times over. Everyone has an opinion but when the same opinion is being shoved down ur throats every second it’s freaking annoying to even come to the blog and look at what ppl are saying.

Watch the first live show when Jessica sings “Love You, I Do” the audience reaction was the best of the night, one of the standing O’s and the male Idols were up from their seats. Funniest is Phillip doing the ” We’re not worthy” hand gestures towards Jessica.

Definitely not the best season ever. Without Simon the show is a ghost of it’s former self.As much as Nigel wants us to believe anyone could have won. The season was totally predictable (except Colton shocking exit). I predicted on top 13 night that Philip Philips would win. Also predicted Joshua would be eliminated third or fourth. Jessica lasted much longer then I thought(course I forgot about the save,)I thought it would be a Colton – Philip. finale in top 13 but other than that very predictable.

One of the best things about Season 11 for me was Melinda and Michael’s Idology recaps. Hope you work together again for Season 12! Stand out performance? Joshua’s “It’s A Man’s World”. This is now on my top ten list of best Idol performances ever.

I can’t wait to watch Idology next season. I told Melinda on Twitter today that watching the whole thing was good for taking notes because I’m planning to audition, and if I make it, I need her and Slezak to like me. SHE REPLIED AND TOLD ME GOOD LUCK. Thank you again Melinda, that meant the world to me!

did notice the de-emphasis on jessica during the last couple of episodes. she seemed limited by the songs given her. one theory could be that she already had a number of record producers interested in her (akon, mottola) while there were still no takers for philip despite strong public support for him, meaning production needed for him to win in order to sell him to a record label?

Michael and Melinda need to just get over the fact that JESSICA LOST AND PHILLIP WON. Good grief, if EVERYONE loved her so much, why did she lose and why didn’t her so called fans buy her music? And JESSICA chose her finale song, it WASN’T forced on her by Idol production. She WANTED a song she thought would appeal to more of a pop type of an audience and fell flat on her face. In other words, SHE CAN’T SING THE PHONE BOOK.

Good grief is right. Get over yourself givemeglenn. I am about the last person to be a Jessica fan, but you are even offending me. Enough. Stop being such a f*ing sourpuss a**hole, and enjoy your guy’s win without being so elementary-school about it. JFC, seriously.

we might all be tired Idoloonies… let’s take a break and go make fun of Duets together, shall we? :) in a few months, when all these great people get their record deals we’ll all forget this moment and go back to talking about how amazing this entire season was because there were so many people to root for! (i’m also speaking to myself, of course… the bitterness needs to go away now!)
but i do agree with both you and deedee. deedee because people need to stop attacking fans of other contestants. it’s annoying. i will never do that, and i might be one of the most pissed off people here! just cause Elise was voted of 6th (way too soon!)- and i would never tell anyone to GET OVER the fact that other people lost/won, because i’m not over it myself… but it will never do any good to get into fights with the rude people here, so you’re right Marsaili. the good people here should just ignore the crazy ones! and i’ve seen you get pissed off sometimes too Marsaili… so just ignore them. let the crazy people comment on EW.com and we’ll stay here and have an intelligent discussion.
now someone say something funny- QUICK!

You’re right, noa. Some posters need to be ignored. I have tried for the most part, but there are moments when my usual filters fail to function. I can’t stand the smug superiority (of some people here), and the bemused condescension (of other people here), and when they occasionally cross the line – and I’m in just the right (wrong) frame of mind – I can’t stop myself. Telling *Michael and Melinda* to get over it really went beyond for me.

you mean season 8. i think most people agree that season 9 was the worst. anyway, i think there were plenty of buzzed about contestants this year. no one as much as Adam, but put together as a group- it was stronger. and season 11 didn’t have Lil. so that’s a plus.

This is the BEST IDOL SEASON 11! If we look at the talents this year, they are really stronger. WE HAVE JESSICA, ELISE, SKYLAR and JOSHUA…
I’m just quite disappointed that Jessica didn’t win! She deserves to win 100%. If a talent like Jessica cant win? WGWG will always win!
At the end of the day, i know that Jessica is still way better than Philip.
PEACE

Winners were chosen by voters.
It’s very rare for me to see “REAL MEN” shouting and screaming while jumping for a girl to win idol.It’s also rare for me to see MEN do powervoting,i don’t know if they’re lazy to vote.Some of my friends who are boys that really like jessica didn’t vote for her for the entire season.They just watched.
On the other side,I saw a lot of girls do powervoting and some of my friends who are girls were screaming and shouting like there is no tomorrow when a guy is singing and then afterwards they went crazy voting for him.You cannot deny the fact that not all the total votes were 100 percent from the people who think who is the better,-
Do you think a lot of girls will root for PP if he has a lot of pimples,fat,small and ugly?

It was worth coming back and digging around to find this episode of Idology just to hear you say “where melody dies and something more unpleasant bubbles up from its corpse,” Michael. Good line! Also, I have to say thank you for calling Jennifer a stupid skank, and Jason calling her a thoughtless hippie skank. Some things that are rarely said need to be said. And thank you for so skillfully pointing out the wackoness of the final song choice for Jessica.

Please, please, make Mindy Doo an Idology regular for as long as the Idol machine cranketh. You two and Jason make a triumphant triumverate.